I promised you on Friday that in the next post I would have some “heartwork” for you. This heartwork is very similar to the journey God led me through to discover his Father heart for me! Going through these steps absolutely revolutionized my life. I would really encourage you to do it. God is so eager to meet you as Father! I am praying for you!

Grab a pen and your journal got to your favorite cozy nook at the local coffee shop, or your backporch ect….somewhere you can think clearly and not be distracted. Write down the following questions and your answers.

1. Think about your earthly father. What is he like?

2. Think about God, what do you think that he is like? (If you have grown up in church and Sunday School it may be very easy to write down the “right” answers, what you have been told God is like) But I want you to focus on being COMPLETELY HONEST about who you think God is. There was a time in my life that I saw God as being a harsh taskmaster, just waiting to get me in trouble. I had to be honest about this view of God before I could receive the truth of who He really is.

3. Look at your lists. What are the similar qualities between the lists and what are the differences? Do you feel like your view of who God is has been shaped at all by your perception of who your earthly father is?

*I would just like to note here, as mentioned above that this exercise is not meant to expose your earthly father’s shortfalls for the sake of condemning him. Instead it is meant to show that your view of who God is as Father may have been shaped largely by your earthly father who is human and imperfect. I have never met anyone whose earthly father gave them a perfect representation of who God the Father is, because their earthly father is earthly and human.

5. Ask God to tell you who He is as a Father. (If you hear something that goes against the Bible or something that brings shame or condemnation, that’s not God ), ask Him again and keep listening! He loves to tell us who He is as a Father. If you are having a hard time hearing anything, that’s ok, hearing God’s voice takes time and practice (just as we quickly recognize our best friends voice on the phone, so we will more quickly recognize God’s voice to us as we spend time talking with Him and listening for it.)

6. Does your list from question #2 match what you read in scripture about who God is as Father and who He told you He was as a Father?

7. As you compare the lists you have made between who scripture says God the Father is, and how you described your earthly Father, what feelings come up in you? Are you thankful for the earthly father you have? (tell him soon!) or are you angry at your earthly father for the ways you feel he failed you? Are you sad because you never knew your father or hardly at all and feel that you are fatherless? All of these emotions are completely normal and expected after going through this exercise.

8. Forgive! This is a great time to stop and think of the things you need to forgive your earthly father for. This may be for intentional evil that was committed against you by your father or it may be for things that he had no idea ever hurt you. Either way you must forgive your earthly father. If you don’t your sadness and anger will turn into bitterness and will prevent you from fully knowing God as your Father. It can be hard to forgive someone that has hurt you deeply, but forgiveness is a choice. Sometimes when someone has hurt us very deeply we have to forgive them again and again whenever the memory comes up. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that we think a person’s choice or action was right, but we are admitting that we are not the judge, God is. (Matthew 18:21-22) . We are acknowledging that Christ died for us, when we were sinners and deserved to die.

9. Look at your list again from step #4 what characteristics of God the Father do you need the most in your life right now? Write a prayer to Him that expresses your need to know Him as a Father in these areas.

10. Be looking for Him to show up as your Father in those ways over the next week, month and year. Read the scriptures in Step #4 a few more times over the next week, this will help the truth of who God is as Father soak deep into your heart.

I pray this time with God and His Word is a powerful time for you. I would love to hear your reflections on how the above exercise went in your comments below!

Tomorrow we will look at how the personal revelation of God as Father changes the way that we interact with the world.

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[…] If you feel as though you need a heart revelation about the Father heart of God, I urge you to take time to be in His presence and read His Word. I outlined some practical steps to get you started. Here they are: http://claritywithcharity.com/?p=204 […]